Legislators Gone Loco — and Other Oklahoma Officials Acting Badly

Sketches: Oklahoma has
something special to share
By David Gerard
Sketches from Three Rivers

Most states don’t do politics like we do it here.

I haven’t heard back from a television producer yet, but I expect to.

I pitched a new reality show — “Legislators Gone Loco.” It has a subtitle, too. The complete title is “Legislators Gone Loco — and Other Oklahoma Officials Acting Badly.”

My suggestion was to film our Oklahoma legislators and officials in action and daily life.

Why leave reality TV to supermodels, cops and criminals, and people abandoned in rugged outposts when a wealth of entertainment resides in state government?

For instance, in January, Rep. Lance Cargill, R-Harrah, the former speaker of the House, explained his lapses in filing timely income taxes for two years and property taxes for six years.

He said he was too busy in the state Legislature, serving us. Hah, try the too-busy excuse next time you’re late.

Oh, and don’t forget Cargill’s friend, Rep. Gus Blackwell, R-Goodwell, who was delinquent 13 years in paying property taxes on his home.

Blackwell’s excuse: He had a misunderstanding with the county treasurer’s office.

Now that’s great reality television, and Blackwell wasn’t done. He wrote a letter complaining some people were on a search-and-destroy mission to get rid of honorable legislators like him.

This is great stuff — better than dumb crooks, well, maybe not quite as good, but close, and hey, we have our crooks, too.

Former state Sen. Gene Stipe, while on probation for making illegal campaign contributions, was accused of doing it again. More than 80 years old and in poor health, a federal court ruled he was mentally incompetent, but Stipe and his attorney maintained he’s competent.

Sure, he’s competent. Before his conviction in 2003, he was in court three times, defending himself against tax evasion charges and two fraud charges. I’d say he has shown great competency in what he has done during his 53-year political career.

Oh, then this is the best.

State Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields apologized last month for a practical joke. The public doesn’t know exactly what the prank was about — that’s why we need reality TV to follow our politicians — but Fields, apparently after some drinking, tried to leave a bull riding event in Oklahoma City with a bull rider’s guitar.

This is precious, and really, it could only happen in Oklahoma — a state official dashing out of a rodeo with a guitar that doesn’t belong to him, to be apprehended by the bull rider's friends, to be taken to the county detox center, and yes, to not have any charges filed against him.

Most states don’t do politics like we do it here.

We shouldn’t keep this wonderful stuff to ourselves. We should share it with the country.

We need to share one other thing, too — our state Ethics Commission.

Yes, we have one. Guess where? In the basement of the Capitol, in a little room with only seven employees, one investigator, and all these rowdy officials to watch over.

Each year, the office goes to the Legislature for more money, but the commission’s operating budget is half what it was five years ago. The commission’s entire budget this fiscal year is only $517,000, in a state with a $7 billion budget.

Commissioner John Raley told me the office was severely understaffed and underfunded.

“We have a backlog of cases because we have limited resources when it comes to investigations,” Raley said. “Sometimes it takes months to respond to allegations that are made.”

Rep. Lucky Lamons, D-Tulsa, put a bill before a House committee to adequately fund the Ethics Commission. Raley said a majority opposed it. He said one legislator called it a “political stunt.”

I expect to hear from the reality show producer any day.

Reach Gerard at 684-2920 or dgerard@muskogeephoenix.com.

Letters to the Editor: Better behavior expected

Better behavior expected
Letters to the Oklahoman Editor

"Labor chief sent to detox in incident” (news story, Feb. 19) tells of state Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields being suspected of "borrowing” a guitar while possibly being under the influence. "Auditor case moves ahead; State House votes in favor of forming impeachment panel” (news story, Feb. 19) describes our state auditor encountering a little impeachment problem (he's already been indicted) and "State picks up tab for Cargill's mailed apology (Associated Press news story, Feb. 19) is about our former House speaker (who resigned that post) using our tax dollars to send apology letters to his constituents, after he had difficulty remembering to pay his property taxes and file his state income tax returns.

These revelations follow the excellent adventures of Carroll Fisher, Gene Stipe and a few others who've graced the headlines within the past couple of years. It's about time we notified these folks that they work for us and we expect better behavior than we've gotten lately. Oklahomans are honest, decent, hardworking folks. The attributes are apparently in limited supply at the state Capitol.

Jeff Wyatt, Choctaw

State corruption cases come in bunches

State corruption cases come in bunches
By RON JENKINS

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ It's been a rough time for some elected officials in Oklahoma in recent months, leading citizens to question what's going on and causing soul searching over the state's level of corruption.

Gov. Brad Henry is among those who discount the notion that public corruption is any more prevalent in Oklahoma than in most other states, despite a rash of officials being charged with crimes or caught in embarrassing situations.

"Oklahomans are some of the most caring, most ethical people in the country and I think Oklahoma state elected officials are, too," Henry said. "Unfortunately, we've had some unfortunate situations here in the last several months.

"But we need to let the criminal and legislative processes play out and see what happens before we make any ultimate determinations."

William S. Price is a former U.S. attorney in Oklahoma whose office won convictions against 240 county commissioners, former commissioners and material suppliers during the late 1970s and early 1980s in what the FBI classified as the most widespread corruption case in U.S. history.

Price believes public corruption in Oklahoma could be a systemic problem caused partly by a lack of checks and balances in the county commissioner system of government, with officials developing bad habits they take with them to higher office.

But he also says he does not believe corruption is a cultural problem in Oklahoma, like it is elsewhere in the country.

"We never had trouble getting convictions," he said. "I think when the people of Oklahoma learn of corruption involving their public officials they tend to demand their resignation. They tend to put them in jail."

"I don't think we are any more corrupt than anybody else by a long shot," adds John Raley, a former U.S. attorney in Muskogee and a member of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. Raley is an outspoken proponent of restricting spending by lobbyists and increased public disclosure of activities of legislators and state officials.

Figures compiled by the Public Integrity Division of the Justice Department in a 2007 report to Congress lends credence to the comments of Henry, Price and Raley.

The report showed that over a decade ending in 2006, there were 106 federal convictions in public corruption cases involving judicial districts in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Muskogee.

That is a fraction of convictions in jurisdictions in larger states, led by 574 in northern Florida, 412 in northern Illinois, 399 in central California, 377 in New Jersey, 362 in northern Ohio, 359 in eastern Pennsylvania and 352 in southern New York.

But in the last few months, those "unfortunate situations" Henry spoke of have dominated the news amid calls in the Legislature for ethics reform.

Among other things:

— State Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan and his wife have been hit with federal charges tied to allegedly accepting jewelry and other gifts, plus excessive campaign contributions, from a man implicated in another public corruption case.

— Rep. Lance Cargill was forced to resign as House speaker after he faced insurrection from fellow caucus members over ethics questions and late payment of income and property taxes. Some lawmakers said their constituents were angered by the tax disclosures.

— Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields was compelled to issue a public apology after he was taken from a party for rodeo performers to a detox center. Witnesses said Fields tried to walk away with an expensive guitar at the party. Fields said it was a practical joke gone bad.

Former Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher is currently in prison on a state embezzlement charge linked to campaign financing and is awaiting trial on bribery and corruption charges.

The decade began with a scandal at the Oklahoma Department of Health, with the acting commissioner of health being convicted on federal bribery charges.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma attorney general prosecuted several other Health Department employees and officials as ghost employees who did little or no work for their pay and benefits.

As McMahan awaits a federal trial in Muskogee, the new speaker of the House, Rep. Chris Benge of Tulsa, has appointed a committee to study the possibility of bringing impeachment articles against the state official.

Fisher was impeached by the House in 2004 and resigned before a Senate trial. It was the first impeachment since former Secretary of State John Rogers in 1975. The last trial by the Senate led to the conviction of former Supreme Court Justice N.B. Johnston in a bribery case.

Oklahoma has had its share of high-profile public corruption cases over the last few decades, the most notable leading to a federal prison term in the mid-1970s for former Gov. David Hall. A former Tulsa prosecutor, Hall was convicted in a bribery-extortion case linked to the investment of retirement funds.

David Walters, another former governor, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense tied to an alleged scheme to collect excessive campaign donations when he was a candidate. The offense has been expunged from the court records under an agreement with prosecutors.

In another sensational case from the 1990s, Patricia Whitehead, deputy state treasurer and two others were convicted of federal crimes in a kickback scheme that involved $6.7 million in illegal payments from investment of state funds. Treasurer Claudette Henry was never charged in the case, but the scandal led to her defeat for re-election in 1994. She died after a long illness five years later.

Several legislators and former legislators have been charged with various crimes over the years, ranging from accepting bribes to cocaine distribution.

Most recently, former Rep. Mike Mass pleaded guilty to mail fraud for allegedly conspiring with ex-Sen. Gene Stipe and others to defraud taxpayers through improper use of economic development funds appropriated by the Legislature.

Kiowa businessman Steve Phipps is a key witness for the federal government in that case and in the case against McMahan. Phipps was a longtime business partner of Stipe and was the owner of abstract companies regulated by McMahan's office.

Stipe has been found to have dementia and declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. The government is trying to commit him to a federal prison hospital.

The determination of incompetency against Stipe came as prosecutors were attempting to revoke his probation for a previous campaign law violation.

Stipe's trial is pending in the corruption case in which his brother, Francis, also is charged.

Indictments accuse the Stipes of illegally steering state money to private businesses. They also are accused of witness tampering by purchasing a house for Mass.

While saying Oklahoma juries are among "the least tolerant of corruption," Price said his talks with other prosecutors led him to believe convictions are not so easy to come by in other areas of the country.

He said the Oklahoma public's staunch stand against corruption has not been "true in Louisiana at all, and I don't think it is true in some of the big cities of the Northeast."

On the other hand, he said a tier of northern and midwestern states without huge cities have had relatively little corruption by comparison, mentioning Oregon, Minnesota and Wisconsin and Maine.

Price said local government corruption appears to be a problem in Oklahoma and many southern states that have a county commissioner form of government, where three people exercise a lot of power on their own.

He said Kansas had a county manager form of government and has not had the same problems.

Lloyd Fields DRUNK at after party

Did the OKC PD cover up for
Lloyd Fields ?


State labor chief sent to
detox in incident
By Augie Frost, Ed Godfrey and Nolan Clay
Staff Writers
Tue February 19, 2008

State Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields was taken to Oklahoma City's detox center after he was suspected of stealing a professional bull rider's guitar at a party Saturday night, The Oklahoman has learned.

Fields, a Democrat, was allegedly drunk but was not arrested and is not charged.

Oklahoma City police did not fill out an incident report and refused Monday to identify Fields by name.

The former state representative could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts over two days. He was elected labor commissioner in 2006.


Fields, 50, was at an "after party" — an event that followed Saturday night's competition at the Professional Bull Riders Inc. Copenhagen Challenger Tour Championship, a PBR spokeswoman said Sunday. The after party was at the Cox Convention Center.

Fields was suspected of stealing bull rider Colby Yates' guitar and was stopped by PBR staff, PBR marketing manager Jodie Edmonds said. He then was turned over to off-duty Oklahoma City police officers who were working the door.

"A couple of guys who work for us took him to the ground," Edmonds said.

On Monday, PBR officials declined to comment further,

Yates said Monday he had left a friend's expensive Taylor guitar on stage after playing and was mingling with others at the party.

"Somebody came and got me and said, 'Hey, somebody ... got your guitar.' The cops had him over there so I went over there and got the guitar back," Yates said. "I was supposed to be looking after it and I guess I didn't do a good job."

Fields was taken to the Public Inebriate Alternative center north of Bricktown and stayed about 10 hours, said an official familiar with his stay.

Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty said Monday he cannot confirm — because of state law — that Fields was taken to the detox center. "I can't verify that it happened. If a person is not technically arrested, then we can't release that information or anything about that."

The police chief also said: "There was an incident at the Cox Convention Center in which an individual was suspected of stealing some property. Officers did detain somebody and after detaining them and investigating it, there was no determination that a crime had been committed."

Police dispatch logs show officers initially were called to the Cox Convention Center about 10:45 p.m. Saturday for a public drunk call. About 11:25 p.m., an officer was called to transport a person to the city's detoxification center. The dispatch logs do not include information about the person detained.

The detox center is an alternative to the county jail and a chance to keep a person's record clean, the police chief said. Discretion is left to each individual officer whether a person goes to jail or not. Citty said the alternative allows a person to sleep off being drunk or high and also lessens the burden on the jail.

The labor commissioner oversees an agency of about 100 employees who are responsible for enforcing state labor laws. It also has inspectors who check amusement rides for safety.

John Edwards Names Oklahoma Campaign Advisers

Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards has named state advisers in states that will hold primaries on February 5,

including Oklahoma. Labor Commissioner Lloyd Fields,







State Senate President Pro-Tem Mike Morgan








and House Democratic Leader Danny Morgan will work on Edwards campaign in Oklahoma.